Fight intensifies in Legislature over renewal of Colorado Energy Office

DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL - The debate over changing the focus of the Colorado Energy Office to bring it closer in line with the Trump administration's energy agenda has grown into the biggest fight yet of the Colorado Legislature's session.

The battle lines were drawn as Democrats in the House of Representatives ripped out most of the proposed changes to the office's energy priorities in a reauthorization bill, and with the measure's Republican Senate sponsor saying he would let the office close if key provisions don't make their way back into Senate Bill 301.

A bill reauthorizing the office would need to be approved to keep the agency open past July 1. In the past, the office has made renewable energy a priority.

Just before Senate approval of the bill, House Majority Leader K.C. Becker, D-Boulder, announced that she would be a co-sponsor of the measure in the House.